The Wright Center Earns Multiple Recognition Badges The Wright Center for Community Health recently received recognition from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for quality work last year in three performance categories, including its use of health information technology to better serve patients and their families. The Wright Center also made notable achievements during 2022 in these two categories: providing services to combat the COVID-19 public health emergency and screening patients for social risk factors that can impact their health, such as lack of adequate housing and food insecurity. HRSA annually reviews the performance data of health centers across the United States and then highlights the organizations that meet or exceed its goals in categories of special focus, such as improving health equity, access, and other quality measures. It bestows the top performers with its Community Health Quality Recognition badges. HRSA first awarded badges in 2021, using data from the prior year’s reporting period. Since then, The Wright Center has earned 10 badges. This year, the three badges awarded to The Wright Center are “Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality,” “COVID-19 Public Health Champion,” and “Addressing Social Risk Factors to Health.” HRSA displays information about all of its badge recipients – which include many of the country’s 1,370 Federally Qualified Health Centers and 117 Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alikes, including The Wright Center – on an online dashboard accessible via its website, hrsa.gov. The Wright Center was among fewer than 12 percent of Look-Alikes nationwide to receive this year’s “Addressing Social Risk Factors to Health,” according to the dashboard. The Wright Center operates 10 primary and preventive care practices in Northeast Pennsylvania, including a mobile medical and dental vehicle called Driving Better Health. Its practices offer integrated whole-person care, meaning patients typically have the convenience of going to a single location to access medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as community-based addiction treatment and recovery services. It accepts most major health insurance plans, including Medical Assistance (Medicaid), Medicare, and CHIP. No patient is turned away due to an inability to pay. To learn more about The Wright Center for Community Health’s many services, call 570-230-0019 or visit TheWrightCenter.org.
Marywood University to Celebrate the Season by “Making Spirits Bright” “Making Spirits Bright,” Marywood’s annual celebration of the holiday season through festive programming, community service, and spiritual opportunities, will begin this month and continue through New Year’s Eve. Service activities and a concert will begin this month, followed by signature events and programming occurring in December. FESTIVE PROGRAMMING The signature event of the Christmas season, Marywood’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting, will take place in the Rotunda of the Liberal Arts Center on Wednesday, December 6, at 4 p.m. Seasonal music from student musicians will be featured. The event is free and open to the public. The public also may view the Marywood Christmas tree during the normal operating hours of the Liberal Arts Center, Monday through Friday, December 6-22, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Marywood’s campus also will feature an outdoor Christmas display of the Nativity scene at the Memorial Arch on Adams Avenue. Sounds of the season will be broadcast by Marywood’s award-winning, student-run radio station, VMFM 91.7, which once again becomes Christmas 91.7 and continues its traditional community gift of broadcasting commercial-free Christmas music, 24/7. Christmas programming starts on Wednesday, December 6, following the Tree Lighting Ceremony, and continues through New Year’s Eve. Those outside of the station’s local broadcast range can stream it for free online or through the Tune-in app. The Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance is presenting several seasonal concerts, which are free and open to the public, including: Percussion Ensemble Concert, November 28, 5 p.m., Munley Theatre, Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts – The concert will feature two works arranged by Clair O. Musser for the 1935 International Marimba Symphony Orchestra: Edward Elgar’s – “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1,” and “Bolero,” by Eustasio Rosales. The concert will also feature works by composers Michael Udow, Nathan Daughtrey, and a novelty ragtime xylophone solo by Harry Breuer: “Back Talk,” with Benjamin Werle as xylophone soloist. There will also be a touch of Christmas Music! Guitar Ensemble Holiday Concert, December 9, 7:30 p.m., Marian Chapel, Swartz Center for Spiritual Life – Join us for a program that includes music by Francisco Tárrega, the 19th-century Spanish virtuoso, combined with live Jazz improvisation! The program also includes a few Christmas classics, such as “Silent Night.” Chamber Singers Holiday Concert, December 10, 2 p.m., Marian Chapel, Swartz Center for Spiritual Life – The annual Christmas concert by the Marywood University Chamber Singers will feature sacred and secular music and carols by Pierre de Manchicourt, Richard Rodney Bennett, Abbie Betinis, Kevin Allen, John Milne, and John Orfe. Additionally, there will be a Marywood Wind Symphony Holiday Concert at Marywood Heights, December 6, 7 p.m. The Band does this event each year to bring joy to the residents/staff of Marywood Heights. They will perform many traditional holiday favorites including sing-a-longs for the residents. Attendance at this event is limited to residents and staff of Marywood Heights. COMMUNITY SERVICE An on-campus Giving Tree service project will run from November 13-December 8. Unwrapped gifts, valued at $15, for the Giving Tree are due on Friday, December 8, at the Swartz Center for Spiritual Life. In addition to unwrapped gifts, monetary donations, as well as gift cards to stores such as Target, will be acceptable. Donations of gift wrap that can be shared with families are also welcome. Co-sponsors of this service effort are MUSE Education Club and the Maxis-Gillet Student Ambassadors for Service, Faith, and Justice. The gifts are being given to children, senior citizens, and men and women in the Scranton area who are experiencing homelessness. Contact communityservice@m.marywood.edu with any questions. Marywood students will spread holiday cheer to the retired IHM Sisters at Our Lady of Peace Residence, located on campus, with two afternoons of Christmas caroling on Tuesday, November 28, and on Monday, December 11, at 2:30 p.m. on both dates. SPIRITUAL OPPORTUNITIESMass for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, patronal feast of the IHM Sisters and the United States, will be celebrated on Friday, December 8, at Noon in the Marian Chapel. An Advent Prayer Service is taking place on December 13, 2023, 6:30 p.m., at the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes in the IHM Center adjacent to Marywood’s campus (1512 University Avenue). This bilingual prayer service is being coordinated by IHM Associates Alejandra Marroquin and Rufino Cano. STUDENT AND ALUMNI EVENTS An office decorating contest, sponsored by the Student Government Association (SGA), will allow students to vote for their favorite décor. A $250 donation will be given to the winning office’s favorite charity, and the winner will be announced at the tree lighting ceremony. Additionally, the SGA is sponsoring a “Letters from Santa” project for members of the Marywood community (including alumni) and their families, who request letters for the children in their lives. The deadline for requests is December 4. For more information, contact marywoodclubs@marywood.edu. Marywood will offer its traditional Breakfast with Santa event, hosted by the NEPA Marywood Alumni Chapter in conjunction with the Office of Alumni Engagement. The event is set for Sunday, December 3, from 9 a.m. – Noon, in the Latour Room, Nazareth Student Center. Seating is limited, and preference is given to Marywood alumni. Advanced registration is required; once the event capacity is reached, registration will be closed. For details, go to: marywood.edu/alumni/events. For information on Marywood’s Christmas events and related resources, visit marywood.edu/makingspiritsbright.
NEPIRC Marketing Manager Appointed to National Steering Committee The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) announces that Chelsey Coslett, manager of marketing and stakeholder engagement, recently accepted an appointment to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Network’s (MEPNN’s) marketing steering committee. As a member of the MEPNN marketing steering committee, Coslett joins 10 other marketing professionals from across the nation. The committee is responsible for setting the overall direction of, and planning the activities for, the MEPNN marketing working group and community of practitioners as well as providing input on tactics for the MEPNN national awareness campaign. The steering committee also provides support, guidance and oversight to the marketing working group and identifies communication and branding priorities for the National Network, which consists of 51 MEP Centers working across 430 service locations with over 1,450 professionals. MEPNN marketing steering committee members are committed to upholding the values and objectives of the working group and actively participate, provide thoughtful input and focus on the best interests of the group and the National Network. “The MEP National Network marketing and branding effort strives not only to make sure that our nation’s small and mid-sized manufacturers know about the services available through Network affiliates but, of equal importance, create a more accurate public image and impression of manufacturing and raise awareness about the criticality of manufacturing to our nation and the value of industrial careers,” said Eric Joseph Esoda, NEPIRC president and CEO. “We’re delighted that Ms. Coslett was chosen, based upon her expertise and what she’s done for our organization, clients and region, to be a leader in moving the National Network’s marketing strategies forward.” NEPIRC looks forward to Coslett’s participation on the MEPNN marketing steering committee, as it further positions NEPIRC as a national player in the Network.
NEPA Health Care Foundation Scholars Recognized The 2023 Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation Scholars were honored during the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s annual scholarship reception on Thursday, October 12, 2023. “Recipients of this prestigious scholarship have demonstrated a commitment to practicing medicine in Northeastern Pennsylvania and a strong history of service to the community,” stated Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, which administers the NEPA Health Care Foundation. “The financial assistance this program provides grants these scholars the freedom to stay here in the region and care for our neighbors while falling in line with the NEPA Health Care Foundation’s mission to improve the region’s health and well-being.”The NEPA Health Care Foundation is in its tenth year of a $3.2 million commitment to the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine for scholarship support for incoming first-year medical students from Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming counties. The NEPA Health Care Foundation Scholars program covers full tuition for these scholars, who indicate a commitment to practice medicine in Northeastern Pennsylvania.Additionally, the NEPA Health Care Foundation has provided over $800,000 in grant support to a variety of organizations, including Lackawanna College, United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA, Children’s Service Center, The Greater Hazleton Partners in Education, Northern Tier Industry and Education Consortium, and Saint Joseph’s Center, through its Careers in Care initiative. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Foundation’s Careers in Care initiative is a $1.7 million commitment over a three-year period (2020-2023).The Scranton Area Community Foundation administers the NEPA Health Care Foundation.
FNCB Bank Donated Four Scoreboards to Hanover Area School District FNCB Bank, locally based since 1910, is pleased to announce its latest project supporting the community with the donation of four scoreboards to the Hanover Area School District. The new scoreboards were recently installed at the high school gymnasium for basketball (2) as well as the softball and baseball fields. “We are thrilled to support the Hanover Area School District with the donation of these scoreboards to improve the sporting experience for students and fans alike,” said Jerry Champi, FNCB Bank President and CEO. “The scoreboards represent our commitment to the students, teachers, and the entire Hanover Area community. We look forward to seeing the positive impact they will have.” The scoreboard donations represent part of FNCB’s larger Community Caring initiative. Through outreach programs, donations, and an employee volunteer network, FNCB is committed to helping the communities they serve.
Elder Abuse Lunch and Learn Session with Lackawanna County Deputy Chinchilla United Methodist Church (CUMC) (105 Church Street, South Abington Township) is excited to host another Lunch & Learn dedicated to topics of interest to Senior Citizens. This lunch and educational event is free to anyone who would like to attend. Although the educational topic is focused towards Senior Citizens, there is no age restriction on who may attend. Beginning at 12 noon on Saturday, November 18th, 2023, CUMC will offer a free lunch followed by an educational session on Elder Abuse. This session will educate attendees on the signs and symptoms of Elder Abuse and will be presented by Lackawanna County Deputy District Attorney, Cathy Tully. During this hour-long class, Tully will be explaining how to recognize various types of Elder Abuse, explain who is most susceptible to such abuse, and teach attendees how to combat any instance of Elder Abuse. This class is vitally important to anyone who is related to or knows a Senior Citizen and the information provided could result in saving someone’s life savings or their actual life. Prospective attendees are asked to RSVP with Beth Kostelnik, Certified Lay Minister at Chinchilla UMC, at (484) 333-6602.
The Foley Law Firm Recognized in Best Lawyers in America 2024 The Foley Law Firm, with offices in Scranton and Stroudsburg, has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® 2024 edition for selection among the Best Law Firms. The Foley Firm was lauded for multiple areas in the Best Law Firms rankings including for Plaintiffs’ Medical Malpractice, and Plaintiffs Personal Injury Litigation as well as Claimants Workers’ Compensation Law. The firm was also recognized for Insurance Litigation. Previously this year four of the Law Firm’s attorneys were honored as among the Best Lawyers in America® 2024. Firm founder Attorney Thomas Foley Jr., Attorney Kevin Foley, Attorney Michael Foley, and Attorney Thomas Foley III were all recognized for the prestigious honor.
Northeast Title & Tag Announces Peeling Plate Rally Northeast Title & Tag, in cooperation with the Office of Senator Marty Flynn, is pleased to announce the Peeling Plate Rally, an initiative aimed at streamlining the replacement process for illegible, peeling license plates within our community. Our proactive approach involves assisting individuals in completing the necessary paperwork more efficiently than if done independently and mailing the forms to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Event Details:Date: Saturday, November 18thTime: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PMLocation: Northeast Title & Tag Office, Keyser Oak Shopping Center, 1726 N Keyser Ave, Scranton, PA18508 In support of the Pennsylvania State Police there will be an officer on-site to inspect peeling plates and sign off on the required forms, certifying the plate as illegible. The forms will be provided on-site to individuals seeking to replace their peeling plates. During the Peeling Plate Rally, Northeast Title & Tag is waiving all service fees associated with this type of transaction. It is important to note that PennDOT will replace the plates free of charge, resulting in no cost whatsoever for customers. Additional Details Required from Participants: Copy of valid vehicle registration card and Driver’s License/Photo ID Both owners must be present if two individuals are listed as vehicle owners For vehicles registered in a company’s name, an authorization letter allowing the presentindividual to sign on behalf of the company is required, along with the aforementioneddocumentation. Once all necessary information is collected and confirmed, Northeast Title & Tag will handle thepaperwork and messenger it to PennDOT for processing. Once processed, the new plates will be sentback to Northeast Title & Tag’s office for customer retrieval at their convenience.
The Scranton Area Community Foundation Announces Awards from the Women in Philanthropy Annual Celebration The 2023 recipients of the Margaretta Belin Chamberlin Award and the Roseann Smith Alperin Award were awarded on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, during the Women in Philanthropy Annual Event which took place at POSH at the Scranton Club. The 2023 Margaretta Belin Chamberlin Award was presented to Karen Clifford. The 2023 Roseann Smith Alperin Award was presented to Natalie O’Hara. “Both recipients are an inspiration to others and are recognized for their integrity and selfless dedication to our community,” stated Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation. Both awards are presented annually through the support of charitable funds established at the Scranton Area Community Foundation. These charitable funds were established to memorialize a loved one and to honor qualities of leadership and excellence that exist in members of our community. The Margaretta Belin Chamberlin Award has been presented since 1992 to honor her memory and to recognize the accomplishments of women in our community while encouraging their personal and/or professional development. The Margaretta Belin Chamberlin Award is presented annually to a woman whose vision, dedication, and courage have enhanced the quality of life and expanded the opportunities for the people within her community and whose creative interests, energies, and service to others have contributed substantially to the betterment of her community. Past award recipients of the Margaretta Belin Chamberlin Award have included Eleanore Ginader, Rosemary Broderick, Sharon McCrone, Catherine Richmond-Cullen, Mary Elaine Southard, Judith O. Graziano, Carol Weiss Rubel, Charlotte McIlwee Ravaioli, Diana Statsman, Susan S. Belin, Rachel R. Yaklic (10th anniversary youth recipient), Margaret “Peg” Ruddy, Sally E. Bohlin, Andrea J. Mulrine, Natalie Gelb, Mary Ann LaPorta, Sr. Margaret Gannon, IHM, Mary Belin Rhodes, Sondra Myers, Nancy Dressel, Jeanne Bovard, Suzanne Fisher Staples, Jane Oppenheim, Sister Ann Walsh, Nada Gilmartin, Michelle Dempsey, Laurie Cadden, Maria Montoro Edwards, and Teri Ooms. The Roseann Smith Alperin Award was established in 1996 by the Junior League of Scranton to recognize an outstanding, highly engaged female volunteer who exhibits the heart and spirit of Roseann Smith Alperin by demonstrating the capacity to lead, motivate, and inspire others and the community she serves. Prior recipients of the Roseann Smith Alperin Award include Jane Oppenheim, Leah Rudolph, Gail Rees, Margaret Kovacic, Ellie Axford, Mary Ann LaPorta, Lynnie Siegal, Elaine Shepard, Laurie Cadden, Regina Boehm, Kathleen Kintzer, Tracy Bannon, Michele Margotta Neary, Michele Bannon, Tara Atkins, Susan Blum Connors, Anne Falzett, Katie Gilmartin, Amy Betts, Linda Robeson, Tami Prall-Nasser, and Jennifer Novak. “The Scranton Area Community Foundation manages many charitable funds that provide awards to individuals that possess the important qualities donors would like to recognize,” Ducceschi added. “We are grateful for the opportunity to honor these incredible women during the Women in Philanthropy Annual Event each year.” During the event, Pennsylvania State Senator Rosemary M. Brown presented each award recipient with a proclamation congratulating them both on behalf of the Pennsylvania State Senate.
The Dime Bank Contributed to the Geisinger Health Foundation The Dime Bank contributed $15,000.00 to the Geisinger Health Foundation through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. The Dime Bank’s contribution assists with funding the Regional Educational Academy for Careers in Health-Higher Education Initiative (REACH-HEI) program, which runs out of the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine (GCSOM) and serves students grades 8-12 within 9 counties in Northeast and Central, PA. REACH-HEI is a specialized out-of-school program that aims to identify and support students who are most in need of encouragement, including those from low-income backgrounds and those who are first-generation-to-college students. The program is designed to help these students reach their full potential in health-related professions. With the help of medical and graduate students, they provide high school students with academic enrichment opportunities, while also inspiring and guiding them towards health-related professions, particularly in medicine. Their experiential learning opportunities foster a sense of curiosity, deepen their knowledge of life sciences, and improve college readiness. The Dime Bank Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Roche stated, “At The Dime Bank, we are committed to supporting education in our region. We were very impressed during our visit to GCMC to tour the REACH-HEI program. The students were engaged, and the hands-on experience was fascinating. Supporting this curriculum helps develop the medical innovators of tomorrow, who will create a healthier future for our communities.”
